The toughest tourney of them all?
No one could have predicted it. Not even the architect of the Big East Conference.
"We never envisioned this," said Dave Gavitt, who founded the league in 1979. "Back then, we were just hoping to get two teams in the tournament."
Now, as the Big East tournament tips off on Tuesday afternoon in New York City, the conference is legitimately looking at a record 10 and possibly even 11 NCAA tournament bids.
That’s more than 16 percent of the entire 68-team field that could come from one league.
"I always felt it was mathematically impossible," Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon said.
There are currently nine Big East teams ranked in the latest AP Top 25 poll. Pittsburgh (3) and Notre Dame (4) both have a shot at No. 1 seeds when the field is unveiled on Sunday, Syracuse (11), Louisville (14), St. John’s (17), West Virginia (20), UConn (21), Georgetown (22) and Cincinnati (25) are all locks.
Villanova dropped out, but is still a shoo-in for the Big Dance – and that leaves Marquette as a potential 11th team to come out of the league.
If Buzz Williams’ team can beat Providence in the nightcap on Tuesday night and then knock off West Virginia in the second round, it would be difficult to keep the Golden Eagles from dancing.
That would give Marquette 20 victories and 128 of the 132 Big East teams with at least 20 wins have made it into the Big Dance.
"It’s crazy," UConn star Kemba Walker said. "It just goes to show you how good this league really is."
The insanity begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden with the conference tournament that will captivate college basketball fans everywhere.
Villanova was ranked sixth nationally in the preseason. Just one month ago, UConn was the No. 10 team in the country. Marquette was a fixture in the Top 25 for much of the season. Now all three will play on the first day of action, a day normally reserved for the second-tier teams and doormats of the league.
Both Villanova and UConn were supposed to be spectators for the first round of the Big East tourney, the recipient of, at the very least – a first-round bye. Both teams even had thoughts of a double-bye, which is what Pittsburgh and the rest of the top four seeds were given.
That translates into two days of watching – and also means having to win just three games to capture the Big East title.
Instead, Jay Wright and Jim Calhoun will both be participants on Tuesday. So, too, will Buzz Williams and his Marquette team.
UConn gets things going Tuesday at noon ET as the No. 9 overall seed in the Big East tournament with a first-round matchup against DePaul. Villanova earned the No. 10 seed and will face South Florida at 7 p.m. prior to Marquette’s game against Providence.
UConn’s potential road to the Big East championship is unforgiving.
Walker and the Huskies get a cakewalk with DePaul, but then would have to face Georgetown, top-ranked Pittsburgh before a likely date with either Syracuse or St. John’s in the semifinals and then maybe Notre Dame, Louisville or, say, a West Virginia to win it all.
It may be easier to win the national title.
"Without a question," Gavitt said.
It’s been the perfect storm for the Big East this season. Most of the teams had success in the non-conference games, and there are a few teams at the bottom of the league that have created a clear line of separation.
DePaul has won just a single league game while South Florida has won just three, and two of those have come against 7-23 DePaul. Providence, Rutgers and even Seton Hall – with new coach Kevin Willard – have all been overmatched.
Ten teams will head to Madison Square Garden with bids already all but assured. Marquette could make it 11.
Gavitt’s son, Dan, an associate commissioner in the Big East office, even joked that there could be more ranked teams in New York than any NCAA regional.
The scary part: It’s no joke.
"This will be like the Sweet 16," Wright said.
And the real tourney hasn’t even begun.